Court judgements and bankruptcies on your credit report can and will influence a lenders decision during a credit application. If your hope is to build and maintain a good credit score then, removing any incorrect and unflattering information from your credit report is essential.

Court Judgements On Your Credit Report

If you have been taken to court during the last six years for not paying money you owe, then this will appear on an entry on your credit report. If you believe a court judgment held on your credit report to be wrong then you must contact your local court, (Include the case number recorded on your credit report).

If the court judgement is a recent one and you pay the amount owed within one month then it is usually removed from your credit report. If you pay the amount owed after one moth then it remains on your credit file for six years. Having payed the amount owed the entry will show as being settled (Satisfied).

Bankruptcies On Your Credit Report

Information on bankruptcies of individuals are obtained by the three credit agencies from the Insolvency Service. If you period of bankruptcy ends then the Insolvency Service will notify the credit agencies.

When a bankruptcy ends then individual will receive discharge certificate. They should send a copy of this to the three credit agencies, who will then update the persons credit file appropriately. A bankruptcy order will appear on a credit report for six years, even if the bankruptcy ends during that time.

If a bankruptcy order becomes "Annulled" (Cancelled), an individual should send a copy of the Annulment Certificate to the three credit agencies who will remove any bankruptcy order from their credit report.

Bankruptcy Restirction Orders On Your Credit File

In some cases a court may make a bankruptcy restriction order against a person. This will be the case if they believe the individual to have been dishonest in their conduct and are in someway to blame for their own bankruptcy. Bankruptcy restriction orders are held on credit reports for up to 15 years.

Voluntary Arrangements On Credit Reports

A voluntary agreement takes place when a court agrees to pay a certain amount of a persons debts following a bankruptcy. Details of voluntary arrangements are held on a credit report for at lest six years. If an arrangement has ended you must send the credit agencies relevant documents to confirm this and they will update your credit file.

I Have a Court Judgement On My Credit Report. How Can I Tell Who Took Me To Court?

If a court judgement shows up on your credit file then you can contact the court through which the judgement was applied and ask for more details. Your case number will appear on your credit file so be sure to quote this when contacting the court. The address of the court concerned usually appears on a "Useful list of addresses" on your credit report.

I have Paid A Court Judgement, Why Does It Show As Unpaid?

In this case you should contact the court concerned and ask them to inform the credit agencies of the payment. Further state that you would like them to advise the credit agencies to update their records to show this.